Robert Lewis Starbird

Our beloved husband, father, grandfather, and friend, Robert (Bob) Lewis Starbird, 80, passed away with his family nearby on Saturday, August 5, 2017, at Centennial Hills Hospital in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Myrna (Hedalen) Starbird, two children, Robert (Karen) Starbird and Vickie Starbird; brother, Tom Starbird; sister, Sharon Starbird; eight grandchildren, Robert (Rachel) Starbird, Jared Starbird, Josh Starbird, Ashley Starbird, Cody Starbird, Joseph (Jojo) Vitale, Kaylee Vitale, and Jeremy Vitale; two great-grandchildren, Jace and Rylie Starbird. He is preceded in death by his two sons, Ronald and Donald Starbird and brother, Richard Starbird.

Robert was born on September 30, 1936 in Opheim, Montana to parents Lou and Violet Starbird. He served in the Navy from June of 1955 to June of 1958. In 1961, Robert became a member of the Opheim Officer’s Association as a site engineer. From there, Robert and Myrna moved to Socorro, New Mexico, where he worked on the White Sands Missile Range. While he was working in New Mexico, Robert was contacted by EG&G Energy Measurements to work in Las Vegas, Nevada. In 1965, Robert and Myrna moved to Las Vegas, and accepted a position as a Project Engineer at The Nevada Test Site, where he worked for more than forty-five years. The last eleven of those forty-five years, he commuted back and forth from Las Vegas to New Mexico working for the Sandia National Laboratories.

Robert was a great family man and a loving husband and father. He married Myrna in Glasgow, Montana on August 30, 1955, and the couple had four children together. Robert was always a man of few words, but when he spoke everyone should have been listening because what he did say was something insightful or hilarious. He enjoyed taking on new projects, going on walks, taking daily visits to Wal-Mart or Sam’s Club, fixing anything and everything, and being with family. His family and friends will always remember him as the person who was always there, whether it was attending his children or grandchildren’s sporting events or fixing daycare equipment at Christ Lutheran Church; he was always there.

Arrangements under the direction of Palm Cheyenne Mortuary, Las Vegas, NV.